Europe cruise - cabin with view?

[eaglecruiser2016]

We have booked our first cruise on the Med.  out of Barcelona.  We usually just get inside cabins, but I was wondering if an ocean view is a must for this cruise?  Is there a lot of scenery on this type of cruise?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[hun]

My opinion is that it depends on the price difference between inside and ocean view, and how port intensive the itinerary is.  We’ve been on European (Med and Baltic) cruises in both an inside and an ocean view - our next cruise will be ocean view on Celebrity.  

If the price difference is substantial, such that you could put it towards a few nice shore excursions, I’d say no.  If it’s port intensive, how much time (and at what times) will you be looking outside? 

If you decide to go for an inside cabin, consider it just as a place to sleep and get ready, and spend more time outside on the various decks for sail in/sail out/looking at scenery. 

Enjoy your cruise! Another piece of advice is to get into Barcelona at least a day before -it’s a great vibrant city - and check out a free walking tour or two. 

[bbwex]

The question is whether going into and out of port and being able to see from your cabin is important.  It seems that you are normally OK with an inside cabin.  In most cases, there is nothing to see except as you enter and exit ports.  Ships tend not to stay close enough to shore to make anything on shore visible if land is even on the horizon.  Personally I like to have a veranda and stand out there as we approach, enter and dock, and then as we depart.  You can, of course, do that from the deck anywhere.  Obviously is there is one amount of money, and you want to save some by staying in an inside cabin, being on a European cruise is no different than virtually any cruise.  Not to say that there aren't some worldwide itineraries that make a window valuable, but a standard European cruise would not, in my opinion, be one of them.

[clo]

32 minutes ago, hun said:

Another piece of advice is to get into Barcelona at least a day before

Or a week!  I could live in Barcelona 🙂 

[chipmaster]

All that matters is if your budget can afford the tours and excursions and eating and such you want in port, if not then don't waste one penny extra on your cabin, what you'll remember is the time in port not whether you had a better cabin on ship.  

 

Europe is all about the ports and memories you created in port.

[donaldsc]

On a cruise, nothing is a "must".  Some things are a "want" and in this case, the answer is no.  For most cruises, I think that a balcony is vastly over rated.  

 

DON

[JimnKaren]

So, you leave Barcelona in the evening. What is there to see? Would you really be standing in your cabin next to a window? On a sea day, what is there to see? Would you really be standing in your cabin next to a window?

We moved from inside to ocean view (often with a life boat out there and cannot see anything anyway) to get some natural light in the cabin. We discovered that with no window, we had a tendency to stay in bed longer, you get some of the reverse when far north Alaska itineraries in the summer when the sun sets real late and comes up real early. That makes for a short night!!

Jim

[Essiesmom]

Also, think about the bed configuration in your cabin.  Will the beds be on the side wall, so you can actually get to the window?  If there is a chair or couch, is the window actually low enough that you could sit and look out?  Many cabins, especially quads, have the beds under the window.  If your bed is in king/queen configuration, you have to crawl onto the bed to see out.  And the thickness of the hull makes the window recessed, limiting breadth of view.  If you have beds as twins, you still have to stand in front of the night stands...EM

[Hlitner]

Agree with most of the other posts in that it is your budget that is the defining issue.  There is little question that having some kind of balcony cabin (a large suite being the idea) is a good thing, an Outside cabin with unobstructed view is next best and Inside cabins are the lowest on the ladder.  However, that must be tempered with your budget.  Inside cabins are fine because you always have the option of leaving your cabin when you want to enjoy the view.   Being in Europe does not change any of these factors because you still have that option to walk out of your cabin and find a perfect view.  In 1998 we faced this same exact issue when we booked a Med cruise on the new Grand Princess.  Up to that time we had usually booked Inside Cabins with an occasional low category outside.  But the Grand Princess (new at the time) was one of the first ships to have a very high proportion of balcony cabins.  We made the tough financial decision to get a balcony :).  But the real impact was that on our many cruises since, we generally book balconies :(.  Once you enjoy that  balcony it is hard to go back to an Inside or even and Outside.

 

Hank

[eaglecruiser2016]

I so appreciate all of the wonderful advice.  I think you all helped me make my decision to keep my inside cabin and save some $.  We are not usually in our cabin that much because we are always out and about.  It is about the actual ports, and we will be using the $ we saved on an O.V. on an excursion.  Thank you all so much!

[ger_77]

The ports aren't particularly beautiful - often you'll see grey steel buildings along the pier, and lots of shipping containers.  If I were you, I'd stay with the inside cabin and spend your money on shore excursions.  You can turn your television to the bridge camera to see where you are and if it appeals to you, you can always go to an upper deck and look at the view.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[Jasalth]

I personally think for a Med cruise it depends on where you are going. Our Eastern Med cruise we were rarely out of site of land. It was (to us) a really neat thing. Especially since it kept us in cell phone coverage for over 80% of our cruise so I would look up what those little islands with like 5 houses on them were!

 

But if it was a matter of an inside vs an OV and not a balcony? I would say skip it. If you are gonna stand at a window to look outside you might as well go actually outside. A balcony would be a different story IMO. 

 

As for the ports not being beautiful? Yeah.. that applies to say Caribbean ports,  but sailing into places like Malta, or Greek Isles, or Venice (haven't yet but I can imagine) or.. Malta? There are a lot of Med ports that just watching as you sail into the port by getting up really early is an experience in itself. 

 

I mean it is always a budget thing though. Make sure you have planned on what you want to do at ports and make sure those are accounted for before deciding on a cabin upgrade. And remember to convert funds as generally prices you will get from private vendors are in Euro's. I mean would I give up a must see places for a better room? Never! Especially if you are like my DH "When we will be going back to Europe? Just spend the $$ already!" 6 months after we get back "Hey honey! I found my dream cruise that starts and ends in major European events so I booked it!" 

[Nebr.cruiser]

First off, we always cruise in a balcony.  For us, especially in Europe, I do think some kind of ocean view is wonderful; so many of the ports have fabulous views coming in and going out, and sometimes ships are not too far from shore around the Mediterranean, so there can be much to see even while at sea.

 

But, if it is the money, then you will be fine with an inside.  You can always make a point to be up on a view deck for entering and leaving ports, or for any other scenic viewing.  Having your own balcony just makes it much easier and for us, nicer.